Lopez interrupted. “Then why haven’t you killed us already? Why this whole melodramatic Judas betrayal to get us here? You must want something. So what is it?” Time. I need to find time for us to get out of this!
The larger man beside Nexus laughed. “The priest is shrewd.”
Nexus lowered the gun and regained some of his lost composure. “We have reason to believe that you have encountered someone of interest. Someone we need to identify, locate, and neutralize.”
Lopez laughed. These men were unbelievable! “Oh, you mean the wraith.” The use of the term seemed to jolt their captors. “He’s really got you spooked. So, what is it that you think we can tell you about him?” I’m fencing with these ruthless killers. Lopez’s mind raced, trying to find a way to turn the desperate need of these men into an advantage. Or to buy time for him or Houston to devise some plan of escape.
“Talking with our man, Judas — your Jim Fields — we have learned that you had some help along your destructive journey. In particular, you met someone at that smoldering police station. Judas had your trust, had isolated you. He was to question you first and then terminate you both. But that information led to a change in our plans.”
Judas cut in. “They don’t understand the significance. They thought it was one of Simon’s men, but we know that isn’t the case. Simon’s been too busy running from us to organize anything. It had to be him. The wraith. They saw him. Spoke with him. He got them out of jail.”
Nexus leaned forward. “See, we find this most interesting.”
Lopez cut him off sharply. “Before we tell you anything, I want some questions answered.”
“You are in no position to negotiate, priest,” said Nexus, a sharp edge to his voice.
“This wraith of yours killed my brother, you bastard. That’s why I was dragged into your toxic swamp. That’s why I’m here. I was willing to risk my life to find this killer, and I’m willing to lose it still. Kill me now, and you’ll lose the information we have about him. Answer my questions, and you’ll hear what we know.”
Houston stared at him intensely. Lopez understood her surprise. In this wild world of shadowed struggles, this was the first time he had taken the lead. I have to know, Sara. And we need the time!
Nexus seemed hesitant and looked to Bravo. The stockier man shrugged. “It won’t matter that they know more. They’re dead, anyway.”
“Who is the wraith?” asked Lopez pointedly.
“A mistake,” said Nexus as he turned around to face the window. He sighed. “His name is Javed Ahmad. Born in Pakistan in the mid-nineteen-eighties, his family, his extended family, emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old. By all accounts, he assimilated quickly to the American culture, finding a niche in high school in the counterculture hip-hop world. Fancied himself a rapper.”
Keep talking, Farnell. Lopez looked around the room as Nexus spoke. Two guards stood behind Houston, one beside him. He also knew that Nexus and the one called Bravo were armed, although their weapons were currently out of sight. How to engage them without being immediately shot? Lunge for the leaders?
Nexus continued. “Our mistake occurred because of his uncle, Rehman. Rehman was a significant player in the underground money transfer business from Islamic charities to militant terrorist groups. Enriched himself with a big slice off the top of every transaction, too. We weren’t so much interested in Rehman as we were his contacts, his knowledge of personnel in the terrorist organizations. From all our clandestine investigations and cooperation with the FBI, we knew that many of the Ahmadi family were involved in the business. We had circumstantial evidence that Javed was as well.”
“So, you rendered the poor kid.” It was Houston.
“The entire family,” said Nexus. “It was one of the most extensive and complicated missions we undertook. It required two planes out of North Carolina, numerous agents, including Miguel Lopez. Including all the agents who are now dead. It was one of our biggest operations, pushed strongly from above. And it was spectacularly successful. Rehman sang like a fucking bird when they squeezed him.”
“You sent a teenager into a torture pit. A kid. You guys are something.” Houston looked furious.
“Collateral damage!” shot back Nexus, spinning around to glare at her.
“Yeah, seems like you have caused a lot of that,” she retorted.
Lopez cut back in. “But how do you know the wraith is this kid looking for payback?”
“We didn’t at first. It took time, and a lucky break that your brother injured him.”
Lopez understood. “The hospital in Tennessee.”
Nexus smiled. “Yes. Not only did we get the physician notes that there was likely extensive modification to his appearance — plastic surgery, even skin discoloration — but we were finally able to obtain tissue samples and employ DNA analysis.”
“DNA analysis?” Lopez was amazed.
“It’s not that high-tech anymore,” said Nexus, returning his gaze outside the window. “All our pickups in the rendition missions were sampled, their DNA analyzed and filed. Useful on many occasions, especially if a body had to be identified post-interrogation.”
“Dear God,” whispered Lopez. Nexus ignored him.
“The Knoxville tissue samples matched the database on Javed. When put together with all the other data, it was obvious. A hell of a story, really. He disappeared after he was released. Off the map for ten years.”
“You must feel pretty stupid letting him go,” mocked Houston.
Nexus scowled at her. “This was in the early days, before Masri and Arar caused us so much trouble. Before we shut out the bleeding hearts who interfered with our efforts. But Ahmad turned out to be much more than all the others. Seems he spent a decade preparing just for this slaughter. Some psychologist should get hold of him and make a career! Where and how he trained, received his surgeries, obtained the substantial financial resources needed, we can only guess. Perhaps criminally. Perhaps with the help of organizations hostile to our interests. But however he did it, he became a lethal weapon, as skilled, more skilled, than our top operatives.”
Nexus turned from the window and walked toward the coffee table. Lopez estimated the distance. He’s close. Can I reach him before they shoot me? Sara, will you be ready?
“He’s hunted down every person in the chain of that mission. He began with the Syrian prison — he killed all the staff and blew the damn place up. He killed the pilots who flew the missions, the Boeing reps who managed the airplanes, the staff who manned the hangars. As you know, he’s hunted down and killed all the agents who were involved, including your brother. Now, he’s after us, the organizers, the leaders of this program. You watched Zulu die. The pressure drove another to suicide. Now, Bravo and I are all who remain.”
“He did all this for revenge,” stated Lopez, speaking to himself as much as anyone. It was mind-boggling.
Nexus nodded. “And he’s still out there, priest. Hunting.”
Bravo spoke, turning to the window himself, looking out over the rural fields. “It will end soon. Either we’ll kill this wraith, or he’ll finish his mad quest and bury us.”
A flash of insight struck Lopez, and he shook his head. “No. You’re wrong. It won’t end if he kills you.”
Nexus looked at him dismissively. “Especially if he kills us, you fool! Haven’t you been listening? He’s out to destroy everything at CIA involved in what happened to him. We are the last point. The architects. Once we’re gone, it’s over.”